The newly restored Marble Arch in London. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian

Turn right out of Marble Arch tube, ignoring (for now!) the tempting smells of the Edgware Road's Middle-Eastern enclave and walk down Oxford Street. Turn left up Orchard Street and cross the road to enter the Selfridges Food Hall – a fascinating place for browsing everything from Jack O'Shea's world-class butchers counter to Persian "fairy floss" and a brilliant selection of spirits (the Wonder Bar is a must for wine lovers).

Restaurateur Mark Hix has a branch inside, if you're feeling peckish – otherwise, head back out on to Orchard Street and turn left on to the south side of Portman Square, passing a brace of Michelin stars with Texture on your left, and Locanda Locatelli on your right as you walk down Seymour Street. Turn right up Great Cumberland Place, and then left on to Upper Berkeley Street. To your left you'll see The Portman, a decentish gastro pub from the people behind Mayfair's The Only Running Footman and Islington's The House, and slightly further down on your right, Green Valley, a Lebanese supermarket with a great line in take-away mezze and pistachio-coloured sweets – both good places to refuel.

Turn right to enjoy Edgware Road's cornucopia of Middle-Eastern cafes and juice bars, and then zip back up Harrowby Street, left on to Shouldham Street, and then immediately right on to Bryanston Place in the direction of Marylebone. Carry straight on, crossing Montagu Street and Gloucester Place and turning right down Rodmorton Street and then left onto Blandford Street, home to a number of excellent restaurants, including the Royal China Club for dim sum, Trishna, for southern Indian seafood, and the Michelin-starred L'Autre Pied, as well as the experimental, and hugely enjoyable cocktail bar Purl at number 50-54.

If you cross straight over Marylebone High Street, you'll find yourself in the foodie hotspot of Marylebone Lane, where Giancarlo and Katie Caldesi's Italian cookery school jostles for space with no-frills Parisian steak restaurant Le Relais de Venise (no bookings taken, entrecote and chips the only thing on the menu), while opposite is the Golden Hind, where the chips are distinctly fatter, and come with a hefty portion of battered cod on the side.

Back on Marylebone High Street, you'll see Peter Gordon's palace to fusion cooking, The Providores on your left; there's an all-day café on the first floor, serving Britain's largest selection of Kiwi wines, alongside such ambitious snacks as Cornish squid with sumac and aioli. Poke your nose down Moxon Street to your left, and you'll smell one of the UK's finest cheese shops, Patricia Michelson's La Fromagerie, which stocks all manner of gourmet delights, from wild mushrooms to goose rillettes – there's a small café if you can't wait til you get home. Next door is the Ginger Pig butchers, which stocks meat from the company's North Yorkshire farm, as well as a wide selection of pies, pates, and their justly celebrated sausage rolls. (They'll also be able to give you information about their butchery classes.)

If it's Sunday morning, carry on to the end of the road to find Marylebone Farmer's Market in Cramer Street car park – with between 30 and 40 stalls, it's one of the capital's best – otherwise, turn back on to the main road, pausing to gaze at the display in the window of Fish Works.

Be warned – from this point on, cooks with a weakness for beautiful kitchenware may well have to exercise serious self control, because the top end of Marylebone High Street is a nester's paradise. Divertimenti, on your right, is one of London's finest cookware shops, and also holds regular demonstrations – I can confirm that it is actually impossible to leave without at least a wooden spoon – while Skandium opposite stocks the very best of Scandinavian design, from Moomin mugs to gorgeous Rosendahl glassware.

Further up, just before you meet the roaring Marylebone Road, is the Conran Shop, where you can easily splurge a few hundred pounds on the most beautiful copper pan you've ever seen in your life. Perhaps better to spend a more modest amount in the Rococo chocolate shop instead – before turning left on to the main road and rejoining the tube at Baker Street with your goodies.

About this article

London walks: a food trail from Marble Arch to Baker Street

This article was published on
the Guardian website
at 07.00 EDT on Wednesday 31 August 2011.
It was last modified at 17.00 EDT on Tuesday 3 June 2014.
It was first published at 06.57 EDT on Wednesday 31 August 2011.